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INHOTIM : an exceptional place
where Art & Nature interact

We visited this open-air contemporary art center. A thrilling experiment.

A few years ago, during a 1.618 event dedicated to Brazil, we had the joy of receiving and showcasing Inhotim: an extraordinary place, 1000 hectares in the heart of Minas Gerais – 1 hour flight from Rio – which offers a unique botanical garden (some 1400 varieties of palm trees, thousands of orchids, cacti and other giant water lilies), a nature reserve, forests and lakes.

At the origin of this crazy project is the Brazilian magnate Bernardo Paz who acquired this land in the 1980s and devoted his immense fortune to his passion for contemporary art, helped by his friend, the famous landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx. Ten years later, he built magnificent buildings to harbor his ever growing private collection of art. Monumental works by stars such as Olafur Eliasson, Matthew Barney, Paul McCarthy, Yayoi Kusama and Giuseppe Penone. Today more than 20 galleries are dedicated to a hundred artists. There are also restaurants, a shop, a research center and soon to come, a hotel as well as many new works. A bit of a megalomaniac, Bernado Paz likes to say that all the artists of the world will eventually end up at Inhotim.

Indeed, one wonders which of them could refuse to have his work featured at this exceptional place.

A unique site for unique sensations. It takes 2 full days to visit it and soak in it, revel in it. The emotion is palpable, real, magical. After a day of walking around and marveling around high flight artistic discoveries, electric cars are available on the course for the 2nd day of visit.

So much simplicity and beauty provided by exceptional nature and powerful works is a wonderful gift to live for us who are passionate about art and fascinated by the beauty of nature. A rare experience, a magnificent emotion. Do not hesitate to make the trip, it will make you grow.